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Brief news on: Tunisia, Sudan, West Bank, Iraq

Tunisia TUNIS —The Tunisian consulate in Libya was struck with a petrol bomb thrown by two people from a car in the capital city of Tripoli, officials said. According to the secretary general of the Tunisian Foreign Ministry, no injuries were caused by the bomb. He added, in a radio interview, that the extent of …

TUNIS —The Tunisian consulate in Libya was struck with a petrol bomb thrown by two people from a car in the capital city of Tripoli, officials said. According to the secretary general of the Tunisian Foreign Ministry, no injuries were caused by the bomb. He added, in a radio interview, that the extent of the damage was to an outer wall of the consulate as well as to several parked cars outside the consulate. Only two days before the attack, the former Libyan Prime Minister, Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi, was extradited from Tunisia to Libya. He had served 8 months in prison in Tunisia for illegally crossing the border during the uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi.

Sudan

KHARTOUM – Sudanese blogger, Usamah Mohammed, was arrested by Sudanese security on Friday, and has not been located or heard from since. This is the second Sudanese blogger to be arrested in the wake of the most recent series of protests to have shaken Sudan. At least two foreign journalists and one Sudanese blogger have been arrested since the start of the demonstrations. Egyptian journalist, Salma El-Wardani, business correspondent for Bloomberg News in Khartoum was arrested last week for covering a student protest. She was questioned for five hours and then deported from Sudan on Tuesday. She was told she would not be allowed re-entry. In a press release by Amnesty International, the human rights organisation said that the “Sudanese authorities must end the ruthless crackdown on protests and harassment of journalists covering demonstrations”.

West Bank

BETHLEHEM – Russian President Vladimir Putin met Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Tuesday. After discussing how they can restart the stalled Middle East peace talks they also talked about Russia’s support for the Syrian government which has resulted in much criticism of Moscow. Abbas told reporters that during their meeting they discussed their shared concern over the instability plaguing the region. For his part, Putin commented on the status of Palestine saying to reporters, “As for us in Russia we do not have any problem with recognising Palestine as an independent state and we have been saying this for the past 25 years”.

Iraq

BAGHDAD – At least nine people were killed in Southern Baghdad, when multiple bombs targeted the home of a prominent tribal Sheikh, according to Iraqi Police. Four of the victims were from the same family. Another 17 were wounded in the attack. The bombs were said to have targeted the home of Sheikh Hatim al-Mansouri, a leader of the Sunni awakening councils in Iraq. He was uninjured in the attack. Security in Iraq is plagued by political conflict between Iraq’s Shi’ite, Sunni and Kurdish factions since the withdrawal of US forces in December. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s legitimacy is weakened by criticism that he is trying to consolidate power at the Iraq’s expense.